Reason to Run
by Redeh
Summary: Leo had a reason to run away six times. But you might be surprised what the son of Hephaesteus admits to himself... *Short One-shot.*


Leo had a reason to run. He had a reason to run from everybody, everything. What _was_ that reason? That indisputable fact that kept him going? Leo knew. In the back of his mind, where his darkest thoughts formed, the answer was there.

That crucial, crucial truth of Leo's life could make or break the seven of the prophecy.

And now, as Leo sat in Bunker 9, alone, he finally let his thoughts break loose. Those dark, depressing thoughts that the cheerful counselor of Cabin Nine shouldn't have.

But he did.

Often, Leo Valdez was told he never took anybody seriously. The truth? They never took _him _seriously. Sure, you fix a haywire dragon and start building a spankin' hot war machine on a six month time budget. Sure, you go on a quest and come back alive. Save the world. But, no. Leo won't get a serious thought.

Sometimes, he liked it that way. So he could break the trust forming between him and Camp Half-Blood.

That was the interesting part. Why would he break it? Wasn't trust good? To most people, yes. Trust is good. But for Leo? No. Trust got Leo nowhere.

The last person to trust Leo was his mom. And where is she now? Dead. With Hades. And a bunch of other dead people. Leo shuddered at the thought.

If people trusted Leo, he knew they'd let their guard down. They already did. Nobody thought he was dangerous, or scary, or even capable of somebody's death. Leo was, though. And he'd done it, which just made the matter worse. He very nearly killed twenty-four kids at once. Just because he was off-his-rocker-style freaking out. Leo liked to blame the rhino-sized dog.

And he'd run away. He was scary good at running away. It just came _natural. _It was like making something with gears and metal scraps. Not inherited, but natural.

Leo hauled himself to his feet, and grabbed a wrench from the table. Buford, his walking table, shuffled into another room. Yes, he had a walking table. Leo was cool like that. And as he made his way past broken tools and discarded metals, he tried to block his thoughts. Even as he worked on the engine, he tried to block those thoughts.

But his thoughts were just as stubborn as he was.

Leo was stressed, overtaxed, and completely exhausted. He had a family and friends that cared for the first time since he was seven. Even then, there had only been one person. He was overtaxed from trying to finish a warship that would take a year to build with nine to seven shifts, even from the entire Hephaesteus Cabin. He was exhausted from never sleeping more than two hours at a time. Leo didn't need his not-so-cheery thoughts right now.

Even so, his mind persisted. Nobody can trust a guy who killed his own mom. Nothing should trust the guy who killed his own mom on _accident._ How much of an idiot do you have to be to accomplish that? _You'd have to be as idiotic as I am, _Leo bitterly thought.

Leo knew people thought his power over fire was cool. They thought is was nice to have as backup. Why couldn't they see his unpredictability? Why couldn't they see Leo's pained expression during those conversations?

They had to be blind, or something. Maybe they just didn't pay attention. And they thought Leo wasn't perceptive. All this running, and Leo had only been running from trust.

_That's not all, is it?_ Leo questioned himself.

And it wasn't all. Leo ran not only from trust, but from sadness and fear. Sadness may collapse on him like that machine shop, but fear always kept him running. Leo moved because it gave him comfort to find one steadfast thing in a life that turned upside down when the fire caught. _Away _was more comfort than _stay_ as far as Leo was concerned. Fear was staying in one place, and since Leo hadn't run away, fear was staying in _him._

But what fear? What scared him so much as to run?

There was one answer. The law of his life. What Leo feared above all else, above Gaea, was himself. Leo Valdez feared his own unpredictable nature; the unpredictable nature of fire.


End file.
